"سرد لرحلة إلى موقع مدينة بابل في ١٨١١، طُبعت الآن لأول مرة: مذكرات على الأطلال؛ مع نقوش من الخرائط المدبئية للمؤلف: ملاحظات على طبوغرافية بابل القديمة،بقلم الرائد رينيل؛ في إشارة إلى المذكرات: مذكرات ثانية على الأطلال؛ في إشارة إلى ملاحظات الرائد رينيل: مع سرد لرحلة إلى برسبوليس: طُبعت الآن لأول مرة، مع كتابات مسمارية نسخت في برسبوليس ولم تُنشر من قبل: كتبها الراحل كلوديوس جيمس ريتش، المحترم، المقيم البريطاني السابق لشركة الهند الشرقية في بغداد. حررته أرملته." [‎٦‎٤] (٤٧٤/١٤٢)

64
MEMOIR ON THE RUINS
through a solid building. Under the foundations at
the southern end an opening is made, which discovers
a subterranean passage, floored and walled with large
bricks, laid in bitumen, and covered over with
pieces of sand-stone, a yard thick, and several yards
long; the weight of the whole being so great as to
have given a considerable degree of obliquity to the
side-walls of the passage. It is half full of brackish
water (probably rain water impregnated with nitre,
in filtering through the ruins, which are all very pro
ductive of it), and the workmen say that some way
on it is high enough for a man on horseback to pass:
as much as I saw of it, it was near seven feet in
height, and its course to the south. This is described
by Beauchamp (vide Rennell, p. 369)*, who most
unaccountably imagines it must have been part of
the city wall. The superstructure over the passage
is cemented with bitumen, other parts of the ravine
with mortar, and the bricks have all writing on
them. The northern end of the ravine appears to
have been crossed by an extremely thick wall of
yellowish brick, cemented with a brilliant white
mortar, which has been broken through in hol
lowing it out; and a little to the north of it I dis
covered what Beauchamp saw imperfectly, and un
derstood from the natives to be an idol. (Rennell,
ibid.) I was told the same thing, and that it
was discovered by an old Arab in digging, but that
not knowing what to do with it, he covered it up
* See Appendix, No. 6.
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